Now that’s Progress

Well last week was a big one in that we got SLABED, which is very exciting.

We got the call last Wednesday that the slab had been poured so we took advantage of day light savings and headed out to the block.

Not only had we been slabed but some of our bricks had been delivered and thankfully they looked the same as the sample wall at Boral, the only concern, what would they look like once they had been laid?

Well we didn’t have to wait long as on Saturday when we went out again the brickies started our garage and we were very happy. Well I was very happy as the bricks were my choice.

We also noticed they had marked out the slab for the frames and dispersed all the spoil from the slab over our block, making it very flat which is great. It was fun seeing where all the rooms fitted in and just how big our place is, well a lot bigger than we have now but it aint no McMansion at 18Sq.

We do end up with a decent backyard and a place for the kids to play Football, Cricket and AFL, mind you I am sure it will cost me a few windows over the years.

Below are pictures of the slab and the bricks

We are now really looking forward to our trip this coming weekend, we may even see some frames and I may finally need to go and buy some speaker cable and some cat6 cable for some data points, now that will be more progress.

Here is a Panoramic shot of the site

Click on any photo for a better look

52 Long Days

It has taken 52 days, 52 LONG days but we finally have a breakdown of the air-conditioning quote and low & behold the quote is now 15% cheaper.

I can now finally make sense of the quote and I have managed to do some research on the brand and models used, and all appears OK. We have been quoted a 11.2Kw unit for cooling which I will ask about, as I want to make sure we can run all zones at once.

While the quote is still more expensive than the 3rd party quote and the builder wont let a 3rd party on site during construction and he is not legally oblidged to do so, so I look at the extra expense as the price I pay to not have a brand new roof opened and copper pipes run inside the wall and not outside.

All that’s left to do is clarify a few questions, like why they have downgraded our heater model from the specs, is the heater and cooling controlled by the one unit and can the 11.2Kw unit cope with cooling the whole house and not just individual zones? Lets hope this doesn’t take another 52 days!!

Oh and we now have a SLAB & some bricks, woo hoo. (Pictures will follow this weekend)

The Joys of Building part 3

Well we still have no slab but that hasn’t stopped head office sending me an invoice for the slab with 7 days to pay, oh and they sent it Friday so by the time I got it 3 days have passed. If I miss the 7 day window they can charge penalty interest!!!

So I rang both my CM and left a message with head office. My CM called me back and confirmed the pour would happen tomorrow. I have now emailed the head office about the fact we don’t have a slab so I am not sure they should invoice me just yet and I would hope they don’t plan on charging me interest if I don’t pay by the 23rd, there will be a very unhappy client if they try to.

I re-read the contract last night and they have not complied with section 30.1, so lets hope we don’t have to go down that path

Anyway the frame also starts on Friday so they are making great progress, just a few administrative issues one has to deal with, ah the Joys of Building

When it Rains it Pours

"When it rains it pours"
Now this saying usually is used to describe certain events and not usually used in the literal sense, but not this time!!

As all Melbournians will know its been pissing down of late and over the last few weeks we have had more rain than we have had the 9 months previous, which will lead me to using another saying “Murphy’s Law”

You see, I always joked that once we signed our building contract in July and that we wanted the house to be finished as early as possible that the bloody drought would break and slow things down, and sure enough it has.

We were supposed to get a slab last Tuesday, then it was last Friday, well we have no slab but we are very close. I am sure if the rain stops for just a few days we will have the concrete pour and the foundations of our home in place but its just needs to stop raining. I trust all you farmers & keen gardeners out there will understand, well maybe not.

If the rain does continue I will start driving around signing building contracts just to break droughts all over the country, bah who is that elnino person anyway!

I will calm down a little and rejoice that we are still a month ahead of schedule and from the pictures below you will notice we have the form work and steel laid all ready for the pour, so by next weekend I am sure we will have a slab and maybe the first signs of a frame, well maybe just the slab.

For those of you who are keen to see the whole block have a look on the top right hand side & you will see a photo, this will be the latest shot of the site and it will be updated each and every time we visit and there has been some progress. Also each photo posted can be clicked on for a better look.

The Joys of Building part 2

Well I finally got hold of my Construction Manager (CM) to see how we are going with the slab and the power relocation; it only took 2 phone calls and 21 hours, ahh the Joys of Building!!

Good news the power has been relocated, so I look forward to seeing the cables and the earth stake on the right side of the house.

Apparently the concreters couldn’t get on site until last Monday so they are scheduled to do the pour on Friday…………………..

Your waiting for the BUT!!

But Friday’s pour is dependant on the weather and for those Melbournians you will know for the first time in a decade we are looking at an above average October rainfall, after an above average September rainfall, so I am taking personal credit if it means the drought is broken.

As our block of land is just a really big piece of clay and a little rain turns that into a really big piece of mud, and you can't dig channels, lay formwork and pour concrete into mud, so I am not getting my hopes up that we will have a concrete pour on Friday.

So cross your fingers that it doesn’t rain too much over the outer eastern burbs of Melbourne over the next few days and when we venture out on Saturday we see a really big lump of concrete!!!

The Joys of Building

Another weekend and another trip out to our block to see what progress has been made, and after my conversations with our construction manager (CM) I anticipated that the power would have been relocated to the other side of the house and we would see trenching dug and possibly some form work in preparation for Tuesday’s slab pour.

So what did we see when we went out today? Well a big fat NOTHING!!!!

There has been no progress since last week and quite obviously what my CM told me didn’t happen. So I am very disappointed, but trying to be a glass half full kind of person I look at the positive, if on our journey out next weekend we find a slab and the power relocated we will be exactly where we thought we would be, so it won’t matter that nothing happened this week.

Having said that I will be calling my CM on Tuesday to confirm the slab pour and I will mention I noticed that the power had not been relocated when he said it would, in a nice way of course. It’s too early in the process to be jumping up & down, just as long as he knows that I am keeping track and I expect him to deliver what he says he will and when he says he will.

In the end one has to be patient and we are still ahead of schedule, I guess its just the joys of building

Site Visit With CM

Well I met my Construction Manager (CM) this morning and he seems like a good bloke. We had a good chat about our house and the process involved in building it. He again confirmed that weather permitting the slab would be poured next Tuesday and he planned for the frame to be finished a fortnight after that.

I mentioned to him that I don’t like surprises and that if any issues should pop up he should let me know early. He mentioned they may need to move our crossover for the driveway and that may cost extra, I would hope not but let’s just wait & see. Other than that he didn't anticipate any issues so let’s hope they keep motoring along.

I asked him when he expects to finish and as I suspected he wouldn’t commit to a time but he said they shut down for 4 weeks over Christmas. He did say he expects that "Lock Up" would be achieved prior to the shutdown, which would mean they would be ahead of schedule so I estimate a mid March hand over, hopefully.

We still plan to visit the site this weekend and we should see trenches dug for the slab and form work ready for Tuesdays pour, as C. Montgomery Burns would say “Excellent”

On Site @ 7AM - Thats Bloody Early!!

I called my Construction Manager (CM) today to arrange a "Meet & Greet" session and I have organised to meet him Thursday at 7AM, my god it’s been well over a decade since I had to be on site by 7am, it will remind me that I now prefer to drive a desk in a nice air conditioned and heated office.

He did update me on the power issue and the sparky will be out on Friday to fix the stuff up and the slab guys will start their work on Thursday and should, weather permitting, pour the slab next Tuesday, which will mark the completion of stage 1, only the frame, lockup, fixing and completion to go!!

We Have Been Plumbed

Well we went on our weekend pilgrimage to see what progress had occurred in the previous 7 days.

Low & behold we have been plumbed

It’s always exciting to see progress and in a week they have dug all the trenches and laid all the pipes for stormwater, sewage and water. They have also marked out the site in preparation for the slab, very exciting.

It is also the first time where we get a real understanding on the footprint of our house. It’s a little smaller than I imagined, but that’s always the way. It’s a lot bigger than we have now and it will easily accommodate our family.

The builders are really making progress and are ahead of schedule; however they have made a mistake which may delay the slab.

When we were planning our house I wanted the switchboard / meter box on the blind side of the house and I paid extra for the change but when I arrived this weekend the first thing I noticed was the power cable sticking out of the ground on the wrong side of the house. The sparky had obviously taken the easy route in it being just 4 metres from the pit, but I paid to have it on the other side so I was defiantly going to raise it with the builder.

I rang the builder this morning & pointed out my issue, they checked the plans and straight away said they would have it fixed and apologised for the error. I was waiting for them to try and talk me into letting them off, & I may have for certain favours down the line and a refund but it never got that far.

So I am pleased to date with the builder except to say they didn’t read the plans properly & I am still waiting for my aircon cost breakdown, but other than that I have not had any tension and they are ahead of schedule.

Below are some pictures of our Plumbed & Marked Out Block……….

This where the power was run to

This is where it should have gone on the far right hand side

Our garage, the biggest room in the House!

A view from the back of the block